The focus on North Carolina — a state President Barack Obama carried narrowly in 2008 but lost four years later — comes as polls show Clinton faltering in other battlegrounds such as Florida and Ohio. A win here would almost certainly offset losses in those states and guarantee her the presidency. And the raging culture war over LGBT rights playing out in the state offers her an opportunity to appeal to progressives and encourage them to show up on Election Day.
Clinton has reason for some cautious optimism. A Quinnipiac poll released September 8 shows Clinton with a 4-point lead, just outside the margin of error.
“It’s a coin toss,” said J. Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College. “We are dealing with a 45/45 split. The electorate is baked, the remaining 10% are folks who will decide at the last minute, and say ‘I can’t stand either one.’ We are in a holding pattern unless something monumental happens.
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